Preseason ended with as many questions as answers. Four goaltenders started preseason, and the Portland Winterhawks had to decide who would go forward.
After the Everett tournament, the Hawks headed to Kennewick for the Tri-City Preseason Showdown. Game one versus Spokane was another beatdown, as they lost 6-1. The Hawks played both rookie goaltenders, Blake Carl and Tyler DiCarlo, while Spokane played just one, their top goaltender, for the completion of the contest.
The following day, Chase Cruz and Ondrej Stebetak manned the pipes in a 3-1 loss. This pairing made it clear the Hawks would retain Cruz as Stebetak’s backup. In both games, like every other preseason game, they employed the “No Return Puck Possession” as a 3-on-3 overtime. The teams would get used to this as a rule implementation for the regular season. The plan was that teams would get used to it and be ready for opening night. Both DiCarlo and Carl were reassigned to junior franchises, further reducing their roster.
The Hawks also signed Avery Laliberte to a WHL Scholarship deal, a move that put the Hawks at four overage players. They need to reduce that to three before October 9. Players Ben Miller, Nathan Brown, and Cole Slobodian are the other three. Based on play and ice time, and the Laliberte signing, Ben Miller appears to be the odd man out. Hopefully, they can get something for him before October 9.
The Hawks also mourned the passing of Brent Peterson this past week. Peterson, who played for the Hawks for two seasons in the late ’70s, became an assistant coach for the Hartford Whalers after his playing career ended. He coached the Hawks for seven seasons, won a WHL title and the Memorial Cup, then became an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators for five seasons and an associate coach for seven more. He was thought to be in line for the head coaching job, which Barry Trotz got. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2002 but fought the illness for 24 years, finally succumbing at 68. Peterson was the last coach of a Memorial Cup-winning Hawks team.
The Hawks also announced a partnership with Integral, which handles technology and AI, among other things. With evolving technology markets, it’s important to stay ahead of growth.
The regular season then began.
The Hawks have just two games this month, as next week is the home opener. They would head to Everett, fresh off a WHL title and a place in the four-team Memorial Cup. As a result, a few key players had to be cut due to age, and the young players coming in had to be ready for the battle.
The Hawks started Ondrej Stebetak in net, and the first period was tense, with no scoring. The signing of Avery Laliberte paid dividends as he scored just 39 seconds into the second period. He brought the puck from the corner, took a big hit in front of the net, but banged it home. It took until nearly the other end of the period for Everett to counter, as they stretched Stebetak out and a feed from the left side to a teammate left the net wide open.
The Hawks regained the lead on the power play after Luke Wiffley grabbed the puck in a scramble and wired a shot from in front of the net. Everett tied things up four minutes later with traffic in front of the net. Stebetak couldn’t follow the puck and left the gate open on the left side, forcing overtime. The three-on-three event saw Stebetak make a couple of monstrous saves. During the onslaught, Everett fished the puck around the net, and a collision with a Portland player freed it from the zone. Newcomer Steve Gumley chased the puck with Jordan Duguay trailing. Like the Everett goals, after a bit of disruption from the Silvertips defender, he passed it to Duguay, who fired it into the exposed net for the 3-2 overtime win, spoiling Everett’s home opener and banner-raising ceremonies.
The Hawks will now face Kamloops on home opening night in what should be a fun game to watch.
Fans who watched the YouTube feeds said the quality was good, but they couldn’t listen to the away radio and couldn’t sync the broadcast to the radio feed. We’ll see if that gets fixed by next week.
The Ontario Hockey League is back in full swing after yet another ridiculous monster trade. The Brampton Steelheads and Sudbury Wolves were involved in one of the most lopsided trades in recent memory. The Steelheads sent the rights to 2008-born Tanner Adams, whom they drafted two years ago but didn’t sign, to Sudbury. The Wolves signed him, but it came at a heavy price: 17 draft picks. Fifteen of those come directly from Sudbury, and two are compensatory draft picks, which occur when a team selects a player who doesn’t report to that team, is traded, and then that team is able to sign him. There is inherent risk in that Tanner can also go back to college if desired within the next couple of years.
The draft-pick breakdown for Adams comes from the OHL website. For Brampton, the transaction adds a significant collection of future draft capital. The Steelheads receive Ottawa’s second-round, Brantford’s third-round, Peterborough’s fifth-round and Sudbury’s 10th-round selections in 2027; Windsor’s second-round, Oshawa’s third-round, Flint’s fourth-round and Peterborough’s fifth-round selections in 2028; Peterborough’s second-round, Oshawa’s third-round, Windsor’s fourth-round and Sudbury’s sixth-round selections in 2029; and Brantford’s second-round, Sudbury’s fifth-round and Kitchener’s sixth-round selections in 2030.
Other teams are listed because the Wolves previously acquired those picks from those franchises in earlier trades.
In two games this weekend, Sudbury picked up two wins: a 2-1 decision over Peterborough and a 6-0 whitewashing of the Barrie Colts. After last season’s tough Sudbury campaign, when they wallowed near the bottom of the standings, the issue was “Go Now” for that team, and so far, it has come to pass.
The QMJHL has also started. They use a 64-game schedule but drag it out to the same length as the other two leagues. Nothing in the league has been exceptionally standout. Games, for the most part, have been close and competitive, and it will take a short bit to see who pulls away from the pack. We’ll be watching.
Speaking of watching, both the OHL and QMJHL use FloHockey to air games for consumers at a cost of over $100 a year, whereas the WHL offers games for free.
The Portland Winterhawks are partnering up with sponsors this season to offer watch parties. Cartside/Garden Tavern on North Williams in Portland and Grapes of Wrath on 5th Avenue in Camas have eight games total, with one just passed, one in October, none in November or December, and then two in January, February, and March.
Be the first to comment